Former leader of Liberal Democrats applies to ECHR

Chisinau, 10 August /MOLDPRES/- Popa & Associates Law Firm announces that Vlad Filat filed a petition with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

The decision to apply to ECHR was taken by Vlad Filat in the context of the unlawful conviction issued by Moldovan magistrates. In his application, Vlad Filat claims that several rights guaranteed by the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms were violated during the trial and namely: Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 in connection to Article 13 of the Convention, Article 6, Article 8, Article 18, etc.

Vlad Filat complained of violation of Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 in connection to Article 13 of the Convention. Although he was elected as a Member of Parliament in democratic elections, lifting of the immunity and revocation of the Parliamentary mandate as MP was carried out in flagrant violation of domestic law.

The former MP has requested to establish violation of Article 6 of the Convention that provides for the right to a fair trial. In his application, Vlad Filat invoked violation of the principle of public court hearings. “I was the victim of a trial carried out in obscure and covert terms, and denied my right to communicate with the media. No evidence was presented to suggest that a public hearing in my trial would affect the interests of justice”, is mentioned in the complaint.

The right to a fair trial was also violated by the fact that most requests to examine witnesses and conduct specialized expertise were rejected without any specific motivation. The principle of equality of arms with prosecution has not been respected. At the same time, Vlad Filat complains to the European Court that the magistrates who tried him did not present guarantees to exclude doubts as to a lack of impartiality.

The former Prime Minister also invokes the violation of Article 18 of the Convention related to violation of all other rights provided by Article 3, Article 5, Article 6, Article 8, Article 13 and Article 3 of Protocol No. 1. Mainly, preventive detention throughout the trial, without proof of any real risk that prosecution and trial can only take place under conditions of detention was emphasized. The purpose of the preventive arrest until the end of the trial was to remove Vlad Filat from public and political space, the complaint to ECHR mentions.

In 2015, Vlad Filat appealed to the ECHR (Filat v Moldova) complaining of violation of the detention conditions in Penitentiary No. 13, illegal detention and arrest.

In late 2016, Filat was found guilty of passive corruption and trafficking in influence and sentenced to 9 years in prison, with a fine of 60,000 lei and no right to hold public office for 5 years.

(Reporter A. Zara, editor M. Jantovan)